The season is underway for the Connecticut College Field Hockey team as they hope to improve upon their ninth place finish in the NESCAC standings last year.
Head coach Debbie Lavigne returns for her ninth season as the Camels’ head coach and Channing Weymouth, a 2006 graduate from Middlebury College, begins her second season as assistant coach.
For those of you who do not know the rules of field hockey exactly, the play is similar to ice hockey except with more players on grass or turf.
The game is divided into two thirty-five minute halves with a total of eleven players allowed on the field at a time.
The objective of the game is for the players to hit a hard plastic ball using a wooden club (fiberglass, Kevlar, and carbon fiber are also used) roughly 37 inches long.
The club has a curved end called the bow or rake and is where players strike the ball in an attempt to push the ball into a goal four yards wide on a field the length of one hundred yards.
Players are generally divided into defenders, midfielders, attackers and one goaltender.
The Connecticut College Field Hockey team began their preseason with a training trip in Vancouver, British Columbia where they were exposed to difficult competition but along the way developed valuable team unity that will hopefully carry with them through the rest of the season.
The Camels bring back a strong core of players although lose their All-NESCAC defensive captain from 2008 in Lucy Gotta.
Abby Hine, an all-NESCAC junior and the Camel’s top scorer from 2008, returns along with a strong senior nucleus of Kelsey Fredericks, Jen Wallace and Kristen Dirmaier who will be the team’s tri-captains for the 2009 season. Seniors Ellen Cavanaugh, Sarah Napoli and Steph Quinn will continue to bring experience and veteran leadership to the Camels.
Joining the Camels this year will be freshman goaltender Kelly Brennan, the potential heir to Quinn.
Along with her, Connecticut College welcomes freshmen Libby Nichols, Emily Scribner, Kelsey Nickerson and Brittany Fitzgerald. In addition, sophomore transfers Lauren Gaffney and Sarah Knowles join the team after spending their freshmen years at the University of Connecticut and Smith College, respectively.
The Camel field hockey team opened the season September 12 at Bates College with a 5-3 win. They will kick off their home schedule the on September 17 against Springfield College on Silfen Field.
The Field Hockey schedule is rather tough this year as the Camels must play five games against schools currently ranked in the Division III Field Hockey poll.
Come and support the Connecticut College Field Hockey team as they hope to continue their hot start next Thursday and make a run at their first NESCAC playoff since 2005.
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